i Simple engliSh properS For the ordinary Form of mass Sundays and Feasts ii iii Simple english propers For the ordinary Form of mass Sundays and Feasts including formulaic chant settings of entrance, offertory and Communion Antiphons with pointed psalm Verses Composed and Edited by Adam Bartlett with an introduction by Jeffrey A. Tucker church music association of america iv Simple English Propers is licensed in the Creative Commons, 2011 CmAA Antiphon text translations by Solesmes Abbey, licensed in the Creative Commons. psalm verses are taken from The Revised Grail Psalms Copyright © 2010, Conception Abbey/The grail, admin. by GIA publications, inc., www.giamusic.com All rights reserved. psalm tones for introit modes 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, offertory modes 1, 5, and Communion modes 1, 2, 5, 7, 8 by Fr. Samuel F. Weber, o.S.B., © St. meinrad Archabbey, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-noncommercial- no Derivative Works 3.0 United States license. psalm tones for introit modes 3, 7, offertory modes 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and Communion modes 3, 6 by Adam Bartlett, licensed in the Creative Commons. psalm tone for Communion mode 4 excerpted from the meinrad Tones, © St. meinrad Archabbey, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- noncommercial-no Derivative Works 3.0 United States license. Chant engravings done in gregorio (http://home.gna.org/gregorio/) This book was engraved, typeset and designed by Steven van roode, Breda, the netherlands. Cover art: A page from a 15th c. gradual by Francesco di Antonio del Chierico (b. 1433, d. 1484, Firenze). The manuscript is an illumination of the chant Ad te levavi, the introit for the First Sunday of Advent. in the initial letter is shown King David, the primary author of the Book of psalms. iSBn 978-1-60743-724-6 v inTroduction Why Propers This book provides music for the propers of the mass, which are integral to the structure of the liturgy and which have been sung since the earliest centuries. The entrance, offertory, and communion chants in this book are for use in the ordinary form of the roman rite. The translations of the antiphons found in this collection are from the gregorian missal as published by Solesmes, and the psalms verses are taken from the revised grail psalter. You can find these texts in latin in their gregorian musical setting in the Graduale Romanum. how important are the propers in the ordinary form of the liturgy? in 1969, the Vatican’s Consilium that released the new mass in the ordinary form was asked a question about the old prohibition of singing of propers at low masses with hymns: The unambiguous answer came back: “That rule has been superseded. What must be sung is the mass, its ordinary and proper, not ‘something’, no matter how consistent, that is imposed on the mass … To continue to replace the texts of the mass … is to cheat the people.” This is why the general instruction on the roman missal (girm) speaks of adding decorum to the processions (entrance, offertory, and communion) by singing the “chants proper to them” (44). “After the people have gathered, the entrance chant begins” (47).“The procession bringing the gifts is accompanied by the offertory chant, which continues at least until the gifts have been placed on the altar” (74).“While the priest is receiving the Sacrament, the Communion chant is begun” (87). if we are to grant chant pride of place at mass (41), the propers of the mass clearly need greater attention. As Cardinal ratzinger wrote in The Spirit of Liturgy, “the biblical and liturgical texts are vi the normative words from which liturgical music has to take its bearings.” however, despite the frequent mention of mass propers in many documents, there has been a surprising dearth of resources available to sing the propers in english, which is a step toward singing the mass instead of just singing at mass. The Simple English Propers provides music for the full liturgical action of these processions for singers who have not previously sung mass propers. They are designed to be used without accompaniment. They are flexible enough to be sung by a cantor alone or by a large choir that can sing in unison in two octaves or be divided into high voices and low voices. The people are free to join in but this is not necessary, for the propers of the mass belong primarily to the choir. The Structure The singing structure is as follows. Begin with the antiphon (that’s the opening text and melody). A cantor intones the antiphon up to the asterisk (*) and then the rest of the choir or section continues. Antiphons without an asterisk are intended to be sung by a cantor alone the first time with the choir repeating the entire antiphon thereafter. if desired, antiphons with asterisks can also be sung in full by a cantor with the choir or section then repeating the entire antiphon. Then the first psalm verse is sung, which is followed by a repetition of the antiphon by the choir or section. Continue this alternation between the antiphon and psalm as needed to cover the liturgical action, and end with the antiphon. The g“ lory be” on the entrance and communion, which may be sung as the final verse, is traditional but optional. How to Sing the sep To best way to begin singing the Single English Propers is to first speak the text by itself. Chant is a solemn proclamation of a vii liturgical text first, ennobled by song. But if the text is unclear or proclaimed in an overly affected way, it can become imbalanced and its presentation will elude its purpose. As the singers speak the text, they should be conscious of the words and syllables that receive emphasis. The same words and syllables should receive emphasis when sung. remember that not all words and syllables are emphasized in speech and the same is true in chant. each phrase should begin with a slight acceleration and crescendo and end with a natural relaxation and ritard, just as in speech. The melodies in the Simple English Propers employ the gregorian modes (modes are the medieval way of organizing scales). There are eight different modes in gregorian chant. each one has a special sound and mood. The sep preserves the mode in which the latin chants of the Graduale Romanum are composed. The antiphons in this collection have been based upon a total of 24 melodic formulas, or melodic models. There is a different formula for each mode in each type of chant, whether entrance, offertory, or communion. These formulas are specially adapted to the needs of each antiphon. no one melody is exactly the same, but after learning a few antiphons in the same formula, you will begin learning similar ones quickly and intuitively. modes sound different from modern scales. They are more nuanced, gradated, and interesting than our modern sense of major and minor. To understand the melody, look at the clef on the left side of each barline. The clef is the compass that allows you to know where the half steps and whole steps fall and, from there, to sing the melody. For this reason, the clef should be kept constantly in mind as you are singing. it is all you need to know the pitches of the melody. There are two types of clefs: the C clef (or Do clef ) and the F clef (or Fa clef ). The C clef looks like a C and “clamps” the note for C or Do on the staff. The F clef is the other one that seems to have a viii note in front of it (it looks something like a stylized F) and it marks the pitch F or Fa. Do-clef Fa-clef marks Do on the staff marks Fa on the staff Just as with thepunctum C and F on the keys of a piano or in any scale, the distance of a halfa single step note separates that note marked by the clef from the space below (which is a B or an e, depending on the clef ). The remainder of thepodatus scale (pes)follows from here just as on the piano. This can be easily bottomplayed on note the sung white first keys of the piano. or it can be sounded out using Do Re Mi syllables (most people know Do Re Mi from the movietorculus “The Sound of music”). three notes sung consecutively The beauty of the four-line staff (instead of the modern five line staff ) is that clivisit presents all you need for singing (the five-line staff is only essential higherfor instruments). note sung first in addition, the Do doesn’t have to be fixed on C.i t can be any pitch you choose, provided you preserve the relationshipsporrectus between the notes that follow. This allows for total flexibility, in threeeffect notes, permitting the first any two chant at either to start end on of anythe pitch.diagonal most chants in this volume use a scale that falls mostly below the clef. This allows you to find the scale and the starting pitch by first sounding a Do or Fa and moving downward: Do – Ti – La – Sol – Fa, or Fa – Mi – Re – Do. if you are looking for a quick mental recall, think of “Joy to the World.” This tune begins with this descending scale exactly. This one simple step will orient you in where the half steps and whole steps are. (There is only one accidental in chant: the Bb or the Te.) The notes and groups of notes (“neumes”) used in this book are few.